Breaking The Habit
by WeLostKairiAgain
Summary: What if Tidus had been one of the Fayth instead of a "dream"? Re-written version of Ever,Ever After.
1. Prologue

**Breaking The Habit – Re-written version of Ever, Ever After**

AU: Okay, hopefully you will all notice that this prologue is significantly different than my previous version. Not only is it longer, but the story is changing. I won't say anymore for now, but please review and let me know what you think. I can't fix problems if I don't know about them. ^_^

Key:

"_**Al Bhed" **_

"_Flashback/Hallucination"_

_Regular Thoughts_

"Regular Talking"

**Prologue**

_My chamber always smelled of smoke._

_It reminds me of the burning stadium..._

_Sin's first attack happened, so long ago..._

_But I remember that day, I'd be a fool to forget it. _

_It was that day that we had all gathered together in our last chance at salvation._

_I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was scared, but we were all united by one thing..._

_There's was nothing left for us to lose..._

_Why are we still doing this then?_

_There isn't a way to end this nightmare, so why bother?_

_I wish I had an answer..._

Jumping up, I shook my head and sighed.

It had been a month since Sin had returned...

A whole month since the last calm had ended and the time had come for a new set of pilgrimages.

There would be no visits to my temple, however.

A Sin attack before this last calm had completely decimated my temple.

While the Yevonites tried to rebuild it, with Sin now back, it would be a long time before even one section were completed.

_For the time being I'm on break then._

During this time, I'm playing "human" on the shores of Besaid.

The others were surprised by my choice, seeing as I group up in the city and before it had been destroyed my temple had been in Luca.

_I like it here though, it's very peaceful._

_Though, the "children" are a bit annoying._

_I know I look young, but I've lived over a thousand years._

_It get's old when the elderly are constantly treating you like a child._

_No one gives you any respect..._

Besides some minor annoyances, life here is actually fun sometimes.

Definitely better than spending all day in the chambers, waiting to be chosen and later summoned.

_Which reminds me..._

Today, the summoner in training (I think her name is something like Yura?) will be praying to the fayth of Besaid's temple and will begin her journey as a full fledged summoner.

It's a little sad, seeing how she's so young.

She's barely more than a baby and already she's taking up her staff and walking to her death.

Yura's a nice girl, I almost hate to see her go.

However, if she defeats Sin, a lot of people will be happy.

I may not like how the system works, but there's no point trying to fix things for one person.

After all,

_She's just like all the others._

**End Prologue**

AU: Well, hope you like it so far, please continue reading if you enjoy the sound of my head exploding.... Well, not really, but I hope you keep reading anyway. XD

Thanks to Boby09 for the awesome review on the previous version of this fanfiction "Ever, Ever After". I hope you end up liking this version better than the first! ^_^

Reviews = Love


	2. Chapter One

**Breaking The Habit – Re-written version of Ever, Ever After**

AU: YAY! I'm so happy that you guys seem to be liking this story so much better than it's original version! Hopefully, I can keep this up without having evil plot bunnies (Such as the Yuna X Chappu one) interfering... XD

Key:

"_**Al Bhed" **_

"_Flashback/Hallucination"_

_Regular Thoughts_

"Regular Talking"

**Previously**

Today, the summoner in training (I think her name is something like Yura?) will be praying to the fayth of Besaid's temple and will begin her journey as a full fledged summoner.

It's a little sad, seeing how she's so young.

She's barely more than a baby and already she's taking up her staff and walking to her death.

Yura's a nice girl, I almost hate to see her go.

However, if she defeats Sin, a lot of people will be happy.

I may not like how the system works, but there's no point trying to fix things for one person.

After all,

_She's just like all the others._

**Chapter One – Waiting On The Summoner**

_I must have waited all day for the news._

_That girl, she was no pushover._

_I expected her to be done in the temple within a couple hours._

_And yet, the sun had long since set and I, like most of the villagers, was beginning to worry._

_There wasn't a whole lot that could go wrong when praying to the Fayth._

_Contrary to what everyone thought, we don't care if you follow Yevon or not._

_Which means that it would be very weird for us to hurt the summoner because of heresy._

_Even then, I just can't see Yura (Or whatever her name is) acting the heretic._

_She's one of those extremely annoying girls who never strays from her "appointed" path. (Something I really envy her for)_

_So, the whole "heretic" thing isn't even an issue._

_Then, why hasn't she come out yet?_

Sitting up, I shook my head free of those thoughts and looked around the small tent I had set up just outside the village.

There really wasn't anything personal in the one room home.

Everything that had meant something to me disappeared a thousand years ago.

So, the only things that decorated the place were a couple of pictures I'd managed to save from my childhood (a family photo and some snapshots my mom had taken), a moogle doll my mother had made (back before moogles went extinct), and the first blitzball my father had given me. (for my sixth birthday)

_I didn't like looking at any of my things, though. (most of the Fayth don't like their sentimental objects)_

_If I look at them for too long, I'll start to think about who gave me them, and if I think of who gave them to me I will inevitably remember how they all died._

_Needless to say, the fall of Zanarkand, it's a painful memory-_

_Why are my cheeks wet?_

I sighed, somewhere between when I started thinking and now, I had started crying.

Wiping my tears and shaking off the memories as much as I could, I jumped off my make-shift bed and quickly dressed in my "conservative" Besaid clothing. (if you've ever been to Besaid, you'd know why I call my tunic and sandals "conservative")

"_I wouldn't admit it until later, but that girl had me seriously worried."_

As I had suspected, the villagers were all gathered at the fire pit near the center of the village.

Night had long since fallen, but they were all to worried about the summoner to be able to sleep.

Strange, though, I'd never seen so many villagers (from any village) so concerned about one summoner.

I suppose she was just the type to be friends with everyone. (another fact to add to her "annoying" list)

"Hey! Chieftain, what's happening? Hasn't the summoner come out yet?"

"Oh dear, I hope that Lady Yuna hasn't run into trouble..."

"She's been in there so long... Surely the Fayth hasn't killed her!?"

I hadn't expected that...

Before, they hadn't been very loud, but now they were all shouting.

It was like someone had lit a fire on wood soaked with fuel.

The effect was instant and suddenly this village didn't feel all that peaceful.

The way they were shouting now, the things they were shouting, I wondered if they might try to storm the temple.

All for their precious....

_Well, whatever her name was, she and her guardians were now walking towards us out of the temple._

**End Chapter**

AU: Sorry it's so short and kinda cliffhanger-ish... I'm still working out the next partin my head, but I wanted to at least reward my awesome reviewers... So here is pretty much a chapter of Tidus being bored and/or boring... Sorry for that...

Thanks to Boby09, zugless, and StoryTagger for taking the time to review the prologue! You guys officially rock my sock drawer! (Unless that sounds weird to you, in which case, you just rock!) XD

Reviews = Love (and lots of it!)


	3. Chapter Two

**Breaking The Habit – Re-written version of Ever, Ever After**

AU: Sorry this chapter is so short, right now homework is taking up a lot of my time and this fan fiction (sadly) keeps getting pushed down the priority list. I will continue to write, I just might not be able to update as often. I am sorry about this, please bare with me.

Key:

"_**Al Bhed" **_

"_Flashback/Hallucination"_

_Regular Thoughts_

"Regular Talking"

**Previously**

I hadn't expected that...

Before, they hadn't been very loud, but now they were all shouting.

It was like someone had lit a fire on wood soaked with fuel.

The effect was instant and suddenly this village didn't feel all that peaceful.

The way they were shouting now, the things they were shouting, I wondered if they might try to storm the temple.

All for their precious....

_Well, whatever her name was, she and her guardians were now walking towards us out of the temple._

**Chapter Two - Proposition**

It was almost funny how quickly the attitude of the villagers changed from anxious and angry to ecstatically relieved.

That girl really was a summoner now.

_Just another living being._

She'd be leaving tomorrow, traveling Spira to pray at nearly every temple.

Then, she and her guardians would reach Zanarkand, speak with Lady Yunalesca, and discover the dark truth of the final aeon.

After that, just like all the others, she'd be dead.

Sin would momentarily be gone, but would soon return again with the ending of the calm....

_Just another willing sacrifice._

For the time being, however, she was seated around the bonfire, surrounded by dozens of the friends she had grown up with, cheerfully drinking what must have been tea.

You would think that summoners would be a little more solemn, but it was highly unusual to see one who was not smiling the majority of the time.

Not only with the summoners, but with the people around them too.

Guardians, priests, meysters, villagers it didn't matter what their status was all of them were always overjoyed with them.

It kinda pissed me off that no one was ever sad when there was a new summoner.

_Doesn't anyone understand death in this place?_

"Ummm... Good evening..."

"Hello?" Curiously tossing a greeting, only now looking up to see the new summoner girl staring down shyly at me.

"What is it?"

"W-well... You were sitting over here all alone, so...." She really seemed nervous about something.

"In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm usually alone. In fact, I prefer it that way. So, if you don't mind...." _This was good, she was shy so she wouldn't resist with me pushing her back towards-_

"No!" _Okay... Scratch that... She would resist._ "I-I mean... It's very important that I speak with you, _tonight_."

_Now, I was curious._ "Why do you need to talk to **me**? We've never even spoken before now, **Lady** **Summoner**."

"Mmmmm...." _Oh? She almost seemed angry._ "My name is **Yuna**. Please call me **that** instead."

_I see so that was her name, Yuna.... Somehow, it fit her well..._

"Ummm... In any case, I have... I have a proposition for you, b-but first... Could you let go of your weapon? You are scaring me, a little."

I sighed, there had obviously been too many years of fighting stealthy enemies if that woman could put me on edge enough to unconsciously grasp my sword as tightly as I was now.

"My apologies, Lady Yuna." I muttered, gently releasing my hold on the Brotherhood. "Now then, what is this proposition of yours?"

"W-well, you see, I am aware we do not know each other particularly well, but these past ten years I've seen and heard a lot about your fighting prowess.

The older men always say that you're the strongest, the best fighter on the island and the younger ones all respect you, treating you as one with high authority.

I've seen you fight fiends myself several times as well and I agree with them.

So, taking all of this into consideration, I-I would like to ask you to, please, become my guardian!"

**End Chapter**

AU: I know it's fairly short and it's a little bit of a cliffhanger, but I hope you enjoyed this. I've already started the next chapter, hopefully it will go faster after this.

Thanks to Boby09, Silver-Firelizard, and busard for reviewing chapter 2!

Reviews = Love (and lots of it!)


	4. Chapter Three

**Breaking The Habit – Re-written version of Ever, Ever After**

AU: So, last night I had a dream that Tidus and Yuna were trying to kill me for writing this story.... I think that means I must be doing a good job. XD

Oh, I found a picture that I'm using for Tidus' aeon form. I'd post the link here but links don't seem to work very well, so if you want to see it just send me a PM about it, neh?

Key:

"_**Al Bhed" **_

"_Flashback/Hallucination"_

_Regular Thoughts_

"Regular Talking"

**Previously**

"W-well, you see, I am aware we do not know each other particularly well, but these past ten years I've seen and heard a lot about your fighting prowess.

The older men always say that you're the strongest, the best fighter on the island and the younger ones all respect you, treating you as one with high authority.

I've seen you fight fiends myself several times as well and I agree with them.

So, taking all of this into consideration, I-I would like to ask you to, please, become my guardian!"

**Chapter Three - Patience**

"No."

The girl obviously had a screw loose.

Setting aside the fact that I am one of the Fayth, summoners were not to ask strangers to be their guardians.

It wasn't like it was forbidden, it didn't need to be, it simply wasn't done.

That and I was a Fayth, so I had absolutely no business being her guardian.

She should no better than this.

_\I wasn't saying this to be mean._

"Oh.... I-I see..."

Good lord, she wasn't going to cry, was she?

She stood up then, smiling brightly, much to my surprise.

"Well then, I'm _very_ sorry for _bothering_ you, _sir_."

Then she was gone, already absorbed back into the massive crowd of villagers who had been fawning over her moments before.

_Well, that's fine._

_Rather bitterness, than crying._

_I might have given in if she'd cried._

_Summoners are such a hassle._

I tensed up, preparing for a battle.

Suddenly, it felt as though the weight of an intensifying glare were focusing itself on me.

_Odd, fiends don't usually appear in the village._

Slowly glancing around to look behind me, I saw everyone of the villagers staring intently at me.

They were not glaring by any means, but it felt as though there were more anger there than ever before.

_She must have told them I turned her down._

Damn it...

I couldn't relax like this!

Where they planning to glare at me all night?

No, it doesn't matter....

I won't let them get to me.

Just need to put them out of my mind.....

_No good..._

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, they had finally exhausted my patience.

"Fine, I'll become her guardian! Happy now!?!"

Yuna stood up from the middle of the crowd, smiling brighter than what must have been a fake smile before and stated simply, "Yes, I am."

**End Chapter**

AU: Rumo cred! Four review just for that last chapter! You guys deserve a big group hug! ***GLOMPS* **Sooooo much thanks goes out to busard, StoryTagger, Boby09, and Silver-FireLizard! You guys rule!

Sorry this chapter was so short and awkward. I really just needed to get this out of the way. The point of it all is Tidus is VERY reluctant to go on this journey, but the villagers would have made life hell for him otherwise. XD


	5. Chapter Four

**Breaking The Habit – Re-written version of Ever, Ever After**

AU: Finally updating again, after many many months of writer's block... Sorry for the wait! :'(

Key:

"_**Al Bhed" **_

"_Flashback/Hallucination"_

_Regular Thoughts_

"Regular Talking"

**Previously**

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, they had finally exhausted my patience.

"Fine, I'll become her guardian! Happy now!"

Yuna stood up from the middle of the crowd, smiling brighter than what must have been a fake smile before and stated simply, "Yes, I am."

**Chapter Four - Waiting**

Not much else happened that day.

The villagers all soon turned in for the night.

My new summoner and her other guardians spent a long while reminiscing over their childhood and planning for the road ahead.

_Again, I was reminded that I didn't belong with them or anyone else for that matter._

Not far past midnight, they went off to bed and soon after I also went back to my tent.

Most of the night, I just lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

It was almost silly.

To think, Sin was back and though my temple destroyed, I was still serving a summoner.

Albeit in a much different way and only slightly less unwilling.

When I awoke the next morning, none of the others had yet awoken and the sun was barely peaking over the horizon.

Having nothing else to do, I went to the docks and waited.

I thought I'd be alone out there for hours before the others came, but I'd only just sat down when I was joined by Yuna carrying a small bag and sporting an apologetic smile.

"Have you been waiting long?" She set down her bag and sighed when I didn't answer.

"You know, I am sorry about last night... I don't like such methods, but...

Well, in any case... I am very sorry."

I simply nodded, there wasn't anything to say.

It's not like I was angry with her, a little perturbed, but not angry.

She didn't seem to take my silence that way though.

Frowning at me, she let out another sigh before settling in next to me.

"You'll have to talk to me sometime..." She murmured, probably meaning her husky tone to sound threatening.

"That or smile, you'll scare all the Fayth away with an expression like that!"

_I almost smiled then, gods, if this girl only knew._

"Maybe if my sadist of a summoner hadn't forced me into this..." I said with a small smirk, wanting to make her angry.

"Sadist?"

_Oh dear... This is going to be a long journey._

**End Chapter**

AU: I'M SO SORRY! I promise I'll be updating much more often now. :'(

Thanks goes out to -across the clear blue sky- , TenkaCat, SilentDarkness101, Rachel, Time Manipulator, Peaceful Dragon Rose, Sarkura, furin-a, Taeniaea, Cor Strike FX, Tsuki Rae, manami-himechan, StoryTagger, busard, Silver-FireLizard for their awesome reviews! ^o^


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